Shatter the Rocks in Your Way

In the most recent general conference Elder Renlund spoke about both the gospel of Jesus Christ and His Church. He described the essence of the gospel in these terms: “The core of the gospel that the Church teaches is that Jesus Christ bore ‘our griefs, and carried our sorrows.’ He had ‘laid on him the iniquity of us all.’ He ‘endured the cross,’ broke ‘the bands of death,’ ‘ascended into heaven, and … sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of the Father his rights of mercy.’ The Savior did all this because He loves His Father and He loves us. He has already paid the infinite price so He can ‘[claim] all those who have faith in him [and advocate]’ for them—for us. Jesus Christ wants nothing more than for us to repent and come unto Him so that He can justify and sanctify us. In this desire, He is relentless and unwavering.” In the various programs and activities of the Church, we have to be careful that this core doctrine and foundation on Jesus Christ and His atonement is not undervalued or pushed aside. The essence of the gospel is simply Jesus Christ, and I love how the Prophet Joseph Smith put it: “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.” Our focus must never be on the appendages, but all things that we do in the Church should point us to the Savior and His great atoning sacrifice. We preach the Book of Mormon because it is a testament of Jesus Christ; we build temples and do ordinances therein because they connect us to Jesus Christ and His power; we put an enormous amount of effort into children and youth programs so that we can help them develop faith in Jesus Christ; and we share the words of living prophets and apostles because they are special witnesses of Him.

                Elder Renlund suggested that the gospel and the Church are like the two substances that make up dynamite: nitroglycerin and kieselguhr. The gospel is like the powerful nitroglycerin and is the explosive part of dynamite, and the Church that offers the covenants and ordinances of the gospel is like kieselguhr that absorbs the nitroglycerin. Elder Renlund summarized the importance of the Church in these words: “The Savior refers to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as ‘my church’ because He commissioned it to accomplish His purposes—preaching His gospel, offering His ordinances and covenants, and making it possible for His power to justify and sanctify us. Without His Church, there is no authority, no preaching of revealed truths in His name, no ordinances or covenants, no manifestation of the power of godliness, no transformation into who God wants us to become, and God’s plan for His children is set at naught. The Church in this dispensation is integral to His plan.” The Church together with the gospel provide the power of Jesus Christ in our lives to ultimately become like the Savior is. The Church is not an eternal institution—like the scaffolding on buildings it will one day no longer be needed—but for now it is essential to build eternal families through covenants made with Jesus Christ and through the power of His atonement. Paul put it this way: “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:19-21). In our foundation we need both the apostles and prophets and priesthood authority that is found in the Church, and the chief cornerstone is the Savior Jesus Christ Himself and His gospel. With these, we can overcome all the obstacles in our way to return back to the presence of God and His Son. I love these final words of Elder Renlund: “I invite you to commit yourself more fully to the Savior, His gospel, and His Church. As you do so, you will find that the combination of the Savior’s gospel and His Church brings power into your life. This power is far greater than dynamite. It’ll shatter the rocks in your way, transform you into an inheritor in God’s kingdom.” The Church and the gospel of Jesus Christ together operating in our lives will shatter all the figurative rocks in our way.